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About system prompts ____________________________________
System prompts are audio prompts that TeleVantage plays to callers and users. System prompts offer callers menu choices and provide menus and instructions to users.
This chapter explains how to play and rerecord the system prompts used throughout
TeleVantage.You can use the standard prompts included with the system or record over them to create customized prompts.
The System Prompts view _________________________________
The System Prompts view in the Administrator allows you to listen to and change the recordings used for standard system prompts and auto attendants. For example, when you are setting up your TeleVantage system, you typically go to this view to change the default Greeting prompt so that it contains your company name. Click the System Prompts button in the view bar to open the System Prompts view.
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Each system prompt appears as a row in the view. The information in the following table is displayed for each system prompt.
Column
File name
Text
Last modified
Comment
Language
Description
File name of the prompt.
Contents of the file in text form.
The text displayed here is accurate only if it is updated each time the file is changed. If you are unsure of the accuracy of the text, play the file to confirm what it says.
Last time that the file was modified.
How the prompt is used in TeleVantage. Applies to custom prompts and auto attendant prompts only. The column is blank for all other prompts.
The set of language prompts to which this system prompt belongs. User-recorded prompts such as auto attendant prompts have this column blank.
Controlling the prompt display
By default the System Prompts view displays all system prompts on the TeleVantage Server.
Use the control on the toolbar if you want to display only the custom prompts you have recorded or only the prompts for a single language.
Note:
To install additional language prompts, you must run the TeleVantage Server installation again and select the languages you want.
Managing system prompts ________________________________
This section explains the following aspects of managing system prompts:
Q
Q
“Exporting system prompt text” (page 12-4)
Q
“Exporting and importing system prompt audio files” (page 12-5)
Q
“Changing the encoding format of system prompts” (page 12-5)
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Playing system prompts
You can play system prompts to confirm that they contain the correct information. System prompts play over the telephone or through your computer speakers. If you choose to play a
To play a system prompt
1.
2.
Select the name of the prompt that you want to play.
Choose
System Prompts > Play
.
Exporting system prompt text
Use the following procedure to export system prompt text into a .CSV file for processing by a professional recording studio or for maintenance purposes.
To export system prompt text
1.
Choose
File > Import and Export
. The Import and Export Wizard opens.
2.
Select
Export System Prompt Text
and click
Next
.
3.
4.
5.
Under
Save exported file as
, accept the suggested location and file name or click
Browse
and choose a different location and enter a file name.
Under
Options
, accept the suggested dates or enter new ones.
Click
Finish
. The file is exported.
Exporting and importing system prompt audio files
You can export a system prompt from your Server for use on another TeleVantage Server. You also can import an existing sound file and use it as a system prompt. For more information, see
“Importing and exporting voice files” on page 2-11.
Changing the encoding format of system prompts
TeleVantage supports two .VOX file formats, MuLaw format for use in the United States and
Japan, and ALaw format for use in other countries. When TeleVantage is installed, the correct format is used based on the location of the TeleVantage Server.
On rare occasions, it may be necessary to convert the voice files on a TeleVantage system from one encoding format to another, for example, if you are staging a TeleVantage system in one location that will be deployed in another.
To change the encoding format of all .VOX files in the system
1.
2.
3.
Choose
Tools > Shutdown Server
TeleVantage Server was installed.
to temporarily stop the TeleVantage Server.
Run the utility
TVConvert.exe
, which is located in the directory in which the
Choose
Tools > Start Server
to restart the Server.
TVConvert.exe
checks the Windows NT/2000 registry for the current .
VOX file format, converts all files to the other format, and updates the Windows registry.
Recording system prompts ________________________________
You may want to record over system prompts for some of the following reasons:
Q
You want your custom prompts and system prompts to be recorded with the same voice.
Q
You want to change the message text of a prompt, for example, the Welcome message.
Q
You have access to voice talent that you prefer over the existing TeleVantage voices.
Q
You have localized the telephone commands for a language not provided with
TeleVantage (see “Localizing the telephone commands” on page 12-12) and want to
record all of the prompts in that language as well.
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Recording options
You can record system prompts in either of the following ways:
Q
“Recording system prompts professionally” (page 12-7)
Q
“Recording over system prompts yourself” (page 12-8)
The sentence file
The sentence file is a text file that contains all the voice prompts and the sentences they form.
The American English sentence file is located in:
C:\Program Files\
TeleVantage
Server\TVLEN00.INI
Note:
“EN00” identifies American English files. TeleVantage includes two other sets of system prompts. EN10 identifies British English files. ES00 identifies Latin American Spanish files.
The .VAP and .VOX files
TeleVantage prompts are contained in:
Q
The .VAP file, an indexed file containing individual .VOX recordings of variable information. Variable information, for example, numbers and dates, is used to build more complex prompts.
Q
.VOX files. There is a separate .VOX file for each sentence and phrase in TeleVantage.
The .VAP and .VOX files are used together to produce the complete prompts that callers and users hear. For example, in the sentence prompt, “You have three new messages, and twelve saved messages”, the words “three” and “twelve” come from the .VAP file.
The American English .VAP and .VOX files are located in:
C:\Program Files\
TeleVantage
Server\Vfiles\EN00
The American English .VAP file is called TVLEN00.VAP.
The recording process
To record a complete set of system prompts, you must do the following:
Q
Record the .VAP file.
Q
Build the indexed .VAP file.
Q
Record the .VOX files.
Q
Test the new prompts.
Q
Deploy the new prompts.
Recording system prompts professionally
If you choose to obtain professional recordings, you should choose a voice vendor with experience in telephony recording, and then:
Q
Select a voice
Q
Provide the appropriate files to the vendor in formats they can use
Q
Test the new prompts for voice quality, usability, file-naming accuracy, and indexing accuracy
Q
Deploy the new prompts
Selecting a voice
The vendor will often provide you with 44kHz, full-bandwidth voice samples from which to choose. Ask your vendor to provide voice samples that have been re-sampled or recorded as
MuLaw PCM Mono 8 kHz, which is the format used in TeleVantage. This will ensure that your selection is based on how the voice will actually sound when used in your TeleVantage system.
Keep in mind that high-pitched voices and high-frequency sounds degrade more as a result of this type of re-sampling, which may result in considerable change in higher frequency sounds at telephony bandwidth.
Using the standard TeleVantage voices
To add or modify prompts using one of the standard TeleVantage voices, contact the companies shown in the following table that provided the original set of prompts. These companies can record new voice files using the standard voices.
Language
U.S. English
Voice
“Ellen”
Contact
Marketing Messages
51 Winchester Street
Newton, MA
U.S. 02461
800-486-4237 (phone)
617-527-3728 (fax) http://www.marketingmessages.com
Marketing Messages Latin American
Spanish
U. K. English
“Claudia”
“Helen”
Marketing Messages
Providing files to the vendor
After you have selected a voice, you must provide your vendor with the list of prompt files and the text of each prompt to be recorded. The list of prompt files is available in the System Prompts and Prompts section of the TVLEN00.INI file.
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You also need to provide your vendor with the TVLEN00.VAP file, so that your voice vendor can match the indexing of the new .VAP file to the existing file.
Testing the new prompts
It is important that you thoroughly test all voice files that you receive from the vendor to ensure:
Q
Accuracy of file names
Q
Synchronization of written and spoken prompt content
Q
Quality of voice recording
Q
Accuracy of index order and format of the .VAP file
See “Testing system prompts” on page 12-10 for information about using the Sentence Tester
to assist with some of these tasks.
Deploying the new prompts
After all files are tested, you can replace the existing prompt files with the new ones. Place all new .VOX files and the .VAP file in the following directory:
C:\Program Files\
TeleVantage
Server\Vfiles\User
The following auto attendant prompts must also be copied to the User directory.
Q
AACLOSED.VOX
Q
AAHI.VOX
Q
AA4SBN.VOX
Q
AAOPORWT.VOX
The default location is
C:\Program Files\TeleVantage Server\Voice Files\EN00
.
Recording over system prompts yourself
When you record over system prompts yourself, you can record all of the .VOX files as well as the.VAP file, as with professional recording, or record just the .VOX files and use the .VAP file included with TeleVantage.
If you do not record over all the files, be aware that since prompts are combined with other prompts when presented to callers or users, recording some but not all prompts may result in a mismatch of voices.
Recording over .VOX files
You use the TeleVantage Administrator to record over these files (see the next procedure).
To record over a prompt
1.
2.
In the System Prompts view, double-click the prompt. The Edit Prompt dialog box opens.
Under
Contents
, enter the text of the new prompt. Use this text as a script when you record the prompt.
3.
4.
Record the prompt. See “Using the audio controls” on page 2-10 for instructions.
Click
OK
to save the new version of the prompt.
Recording over the .VAP file
You can record over the .VAP file by using a variety of recording tools and VAP tools. If you do not already have such a tool, you should consider VFEdit, which is available on the Internet.
Testing and deploying the new prompts
Use the Sentence Tester to test the new prompts. See “Testing system prompts” on
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Testing system prompts
You can test system prompts by listening to them in context over your telephone. By joining individual prompts into sentences and playing them as they are used in TeleVantage, you can evaluate intonation, emphasis, and consistency.
Note:
Computers must run on Windows NT/2000 to test system prompts.
To test system prompts
1.
2.
Start the Administrator using the more information).
/sentence
command line option (see page B-1 for
Choose
Tools > Test Sentences
. The Test Sentences dialog box opens.
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3.
In
Language to test
, select the language of the prompts that you want to test.
4.
Under
Sentences
, select a sentence from the list.
5.
6.
The
Current sentence
box displays how that sentence is described in the sentences.ini file. Many sentences consist of a single .VOX file. Other sentences are made up of several joined .VOX files, and may contain variables as well.
You can double click a sentence to test it, or select it and press
Test.
When your phone rings, pick it up and listen to the sentence in the language you selected. You can continue to play messages, and even change languages, without hanging up your phone.
If the sentence contains variables, they are indicated in the
Name
column with an asterisk. You can enter a new
Value
for a variable, and optionally select a different variable
Data Type
.
For example, by default the sentence ToPurgeMsg sentence plays as:
“To permanently delete the 1 message in your Client’s Deleted folder, press 3.
Otherwise, press 4.”
By changing the
Value
of Variable 1 to 6, the sentence plays as:
“To permanently delete the 6 messages in your Client’s Deleted folder, press 3.
Otherwise, press 4.”
Click
Clear
to return all
Values
to their original settings.
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Localizing the telephone commands _________________________
The TeleVantage Localization Kit is available if you want to localize and record the telephone commands in another language. The Localization Kit includes all the necessary documentation and tools for localization.
Although the process for recording system prompts is the same for localized system prompts, the localization process requires several more steps, which are described in the Localization Kit.
For more information about the TeleVantage Localization Kit, contact your TeleVantage provider.
Changing the TeleVantage ringback tone
By default, the ringback tone (the sound you hear when the phone you dialed is ringing) is the
United States tone. To rerecord this tone, rerecord the file Ringback.vox, located in the following directory on the TeleVantage Server computer:
C:\TeleVantage Server\vfiles\User
For instructions on rerecording the file, see “Recording system prompts” on page 12-5.
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